Alien Feelings

“Hey anyone! I am nobody. If I may ask a favour of you. Please, walk with me through Hell!” Mara is trudging through the forest. Crunching softly beneath her boots, motherland, and rough trunks all around her, woodland. At the break of dawn, the hunt should be fruitful, yet today of all days, there was no game to hunt. - AAAHH!!! Mara screams, raging towards the sky, but it has no use, no value. It’s been years of harsh survival. “One would think it’s quite natural to have a screw or two loose nowadays.” she thinks to herself. “Well anyway, thanks to good old Hanks I know at least how to get exotic food!” she continues in her mind. But it’s quiet and lonely here in the forest. Ideas get jumbled in her head, memories of war, destruction, suffering and death. There was nothing left in this world for her. No family, no old-time friends, she couldn’t find anyone from her past. She struggled for years to find her loved ones. Used up all the connections she’s made during the war. And neither the Allied’s program that she’s been forced to enrol to, couldn’t managed to find them. She kept on walking further through the forest, constantly palming the gun at her hip. The same gun that, years ago, she’d pointed at her own head. She could still remember the smells in the air, could still feel the warm wisps from the fire she’d lit and could still see the rugged walls of the cave she’d hidden in. Mara closed her eyes as if, her softly whispered words could still reach her ears. “- One, two, three… “ The way the cold barrel of the gun rested against her temple. “- Six, seven, eight …” The way her hand clenched the grip, her finger resting on the trigger. Vile fear, gnawing at her constantly, drove her to lunacy. Ready to surrender to her madness she’d laughed half-heartedly, huffing out small breaths. But she never got to pull the trigger on that night. Shuffling in the brushes caught her attention and the spell of insanity broke. Her survival instinct flaring up to life, she trained her gun in the direction of the noises. It was a time in which despair would eat you alive. A time where the Invaders were roaming the Earth hunting the humans. But back then in that cursed night where she wanted to give up, hope found her in the form of a young boy. It’s been five years since she’s seen Yhiorach. “The little s**t!” she thought, laughing to herself. Recollections of him flooded her mind. Yhiorach could pass as a human teenager but, he was an Allied alien boy. Mara couldn’t figure him out for a long time. She hadn’t said a word to him at that time. She just lowered her gun and went back near the fire. He followed her everywhere since. He trailed after her until she reached the main camp, deep into the mountains. He lingered at the outskirts of the cave’s entrance and hid, only revealing himself just to catch her attention. Sending her way, a wordless plea for help. The leader of the camp, Hanks, took pity on him and made her take responsibility of the boy. She cursed Hanks for months, but Mara could never disobey his orders. After all the things he’s done for her, she regarded him as a father figure. It was a little over a year when Yhiorach started talking a broken English. That was when she’d confirmed that he was indeed an alien. In that moment it wasn’t shock that overwhelmed her, but fear. Fear that if the other people from the camp found out the truth about him, they’ll regard him as a threat. The terror and resentment that was infesting their minds would drive them in doing something wrong. So, she kept his identity a secret. He told her after some time, that he needed to get to one of the Allied’s camp. That he stowed away on one of their warships so that he could be with his father. But something went wrong. The ships meant to get the troops planet side were attacked, and he ended up in the middle of nowhere, alone. Mara knew in that moment that she will have to do everything in her power to return him to his kind. But the time was not wright yet. Even though the Allied forces were pushing back the Invaders, the hole planet was still a warzone. So, another year went by. During that time, she spend the days teaching him all that she knew, from laying traps and hunting to gathering plants and fruits. He became her sidekick and were always together. When she went on days long scouting missions, when she was posted as a sentinel around camp or when she simply busied about the base. In exchange he taught her about his people’s ways, language and history. But after that year, the news of the Invaders leaving the planet and the victory of Earth reached their settlement. And so, she took him to the closest alien base she knew of, Earth- America N Allied Base No. 102. A month of traveling throughout the wilderness on foot exhausted them both. But they reached the base at last. Mara knew that they’d been stalked for a day already. Their scouts pursuing them from afar. Looking in the distance at the guards posted at the gates, she told him. “- They are closing in on us. Walk straight ahead to where the sentries are, and you should be fine. I’ll circle across and stick around as much as I can, but I don’t want them to catch me. Do you understand?” He looked at her with sadness and regret. Yhiorach wanted her to come with him. But she couldn’t, now that the war on the planet ended, she had a mission, and he knew how important it was for her to return home. So, he quitted the idea of having her beside him now. He just lifted a pendant to her and spoke. “- Yhorha (teacher), this technology, ancient from home named skhath. Wear it and I find you in future. It is meant for me to give to my most loved yhorha to bond and honour. It is ruthh (willed) to mine so I may honour you when I rise warrior. “ He then turned and walked away toward the encampment and left her stunned, unable to move for a few minutes. That was the last she saw of him. Mara touched the skhath through her clothes as it started glowing brightly. It did that every time she thought of him and at times it glowed faintly on its own. She liked to think that he thought of her too sometimes. “Wistful thinking Mara. You know that you have no clue whatsoever on what the skhath is doing.” she mused in her head while trekking around a clearing. Out in the distance a deer rushed across. Alerted, Mara stalks forward stealthily, memories of old, all but forgotten.